You'll no doubt be aware that a couple of our more sprightly alumni went off to play in Rio in August and, suffice to say, both met with enough success to trouble the airport metal detectors on the way home.

And while all this has been going on a Catz men's VIII has been in training. The benefits showed when they picked up a couple of pots at City of Oxford Regatta — Catz' first wins above novice level in an open event in 10 years — but the real goal was to race in Tokyo (host city for the next Olympics), as the return leg of a rowing exchange with the University of Tsukuba.

City of Oxford Regatta, 20–21st August
IM2.8 (6 entries)
S/F	Lost to Cantabrigian	1½ L
IM3.8 (7 entries)
Q/F	Beat Putney Town	Easily
S/F	Beat Jesus College (Cam)	Easily
Final	Beat Green Templeton College	3 L	WON
IM3.8 Sprint (7 entries)
Q/F	Beat Jesus College (Cam)	Easily
S/F	Beat Hertford College	2½ L
Final	Beat Wolfson College	2 L	WON

Andy Coombe (M.84)

After leaving Catz in 1988 I tried my hand at investment banking but didn't like it. So I left and did an MBA at INSEAD in 1992. Following this I spent 20 years in the car industry working in sales and marketing positions for Ford and Volkswagen in the UK, Switzerland, Germany, USA and Mexico. I came back to the UK in 2011 and now work for a non-teaching department of Cambridge University, marketing English language qualifications. I did row after college at Ironbridge rowing Club in 1993/94 and still may go back to it in Cambridge.

Andy Silverbeck (M.86)

I'm now the CFO at ERM, an environmental and sustainability consulting company and enjoying life.

Katherine Morris-Wiltshire (M.86)

Didn't make it to the last Gaudy as our third child (daughter) was born that weekend. Chris (1985, Zoology) and I have been living in Wiltshire since 2000. After college we lived in Fyfield (of White Hart fame) and then spent five years in Nairobi (me working for DfID) as near neighbours of Silvia Cassini (1986, Human Sciences, and one-time 2nd VIII rower) where our first two children (sons) were born. Finally made it back to East Africa for a holiday in 2014, when we all five climbed Kilimanjaro. Indeed, as a family our exertions have mainly been confined to mountain walking and not to rowing, though our son did row at a local club for a while —including in a regatta on the Isis!

Cathy Randall (née Taylor) (M.84)

Since leaving Catz, I have worked in publishing and as a freelance editor, and I'm currently writing my first children's historical novel. However, since my marriage to Steve in 1993, most of my time has been spent bringing up our three children. I'm afraid I have done nothing rowing-related, apart from watch the Boat Race, but I am now the mother of a member of Newnham College Women's 2nd VIII in Cambridge and she's already got more bumps than I ever did. I loved the Gaudy paddle and I'm seriously considering getting back in a boat as we don't live far from the Thames.

The USA currently dominate women's VIIIs, unbeaten since 2006, while the GB VIII had never won any medal at Olympic or World Championship level, although, with Zoe coxing, they've finished 4th, 6th, 4th in the past three years' World Championships. Their season started well, winning the European Championships, and second behind USA in the 2nd round of the World Cup in Lucerne, but disappointingly also beaten by NZ at the last round in Poznan. Eights at this level are raced at such a high pace that there are really only two tactics. Plan A is to off hard but try to maintain a near constant speed throughout, while Plan B is to go off even harder and then try and stay ahead of the people working to Plan A. Unusually, most women's VIIIs in Rio seem to opt for Plan B, but the GB VIII had enough confidence in themselves to stick to Plan A, even though it meant being somewhere near the back of the field at the halfway mark. It won them their heat (rowing through New Zealand was a bonus) but surely everyone else would have cottoned on to their game for the final? Apparently not, as half the field once again set off fast in pursuit of the USA leaving GB (and Romania) well behind. But, once again, they gradually picked off the other crews and ended up with GB overlapping the USA and just pipping Romania for the Silver. The first Olympic medal won by a Catz alumna.

'Leaving Rio with a stinking cold, a smashed up toe, a shiny silver medal & some gorgeous memories I'll never forget' (@zoedetoledo)

The GB men's VIII had not had such an impressive start to their season: 3rd in the European Championships, 4th and 2nd in the World Cups. However, given the calibre of those in the boat, no one really believed that was a true indication of their potential and sure enough, after their mid-season training camp, they turned up in Rio firing on all cylinders, winning their heat in style and a straight route through to the final. Germany, winners of the other heat, were expected to be the main competition in a rerun of their many close battles last season, however this year the Dutch and US would also have fancied their chances. Perhaps with so many crews racing for Gold nobody wanted to risk going out too hard so it was a much more even start than in the women's final. However, as the race unfolded, it soon became apparent that the GB base speed was just a little bit faster than everyone else's and by the run in they had built up enough of a lead to be able to relax and enjoy watching the scramble as Germany just beat the Dutch to the silver. A third Gold medal for Andy Triggs Hodge and, perhaps unlike his other two in the GB `flagship' coxless four, all the more enjoyable as a Gold that they had to go out and win rather than, at least in the public's perception, one they had to avoid losing.

Kicking off a couple of weeks just after Summer Eights, we began training in earnest, with our first goal being the Oxford City Royal Regatta. Getting in six sessions a week (and making the most of the sunny evenings) under the coaching of ex-President David Zimmer, we moved towards being race-ready by winning the 1k and 500m IM3.8+ events. Our Japanese visitors from Tsukuba University put down an impressive performance in winning both Women's novice single and double sculls. Next stop, Japan!

Settling in for the long haul

After about 24 hours on buses, planes and feet, we arrived at Toda rowing lake, the Olympic rowing venue from Tokyo 1964. After a quick setup paddle and being bamboozled by a supermarket, we got into our routine of early-to-bed, early-wake. We were racing in the Oxford Shield Regatta as part of the All Japan Universities Championships — something akin to BUCS in the UK but which also allowed entries from non-university crews.

After racing we had a number of visits from members of the Toda rowing community — from the Japanese Rowing Association and Saitama prefecture newspaper, to a rower who had raced against an Oxford crew in the 1950's (and beaten them by a bow ball, apparently!). We spent the evening meeting Tsukuba alumni, before handing over a little bit of SCCBC after President George brought out his best Japanese for a speech. We didn't understand a word of it, but apparently it was very good! Racing and training done, we set about exploring Tokyo for a few days, before flying back to the UK. Training is underway this term, with our next goal being Wallingford Head at the start of December.

Catz at Toda rowing lake

Anu Dudhia (email: dudhia@atm.ox.ac.uk )